IRHGZA 02

Chapter 02

If someone asked Nana to describe her current situation in one sentence, she would say this:

This is hell.

It was not an exaggeration.

Zombies brutally biting living people.

The screams of kind and innocent neighbors.

Friends, family, and neighbors turned into monsters, hunting and tearing each other apart.

Bright red blood soaking into the blackened, dead land.

If this was not hell, then what was it?

Nana stood frozen like a stone, staring at the horrifying scene. Then a strange smell reached her nose.

It was foul, fishy, and wrong.

The moment she realized what the smell was, goosebumps covered her entire body. Her stiff legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the ground.

“Ugh—blegh!”

It was the smell of blood.

She had smelled blood before in her life, but never something this thick and disgusting.

I have to… run away… or I’ll die. Before they notice me…

Thankfully, the zombies had not seen Nana at the edge of the village.

But if she stayed like this, it would only be a matter of time before they found her.

She needed to run. Yet her whole body trembled, and her legs kept giving out. She tried to stand, only to collapse again.

Please… legs! Move! Please!

At that moment, the two baby chicks that had slipped from her arms ran back toward her, chirping loudly as they burrowed into her embrace.

Whether they were encouraging her, or simply felt that her arms were the safest place in this hell, she didn’t know. But their small warmth gave her a little strength.

Thanks to that, Nana barely managed to escape and became the only survivor of Sweet Little Village.

But she felt no joy at all.

Grrrrr—

The loud growl of her stomach pulled her wandering thoughts back to reality. Nana sighed, got up from the bed, and walked to the kitchen.

Right. Even if the world has ended, I still need to eat.

“Cluck, cluck.”

The two hens at her feet tilted their heads as if greeting her. The chicks she had received as quest rewards had grown quite plump.

Nana took out chicken feed from her inventory and poured it into a bowl on the floor.

“This is the last of it.”

The water is almost gone. The food is almost gone. How am I supposed to feed you? No… before that, I’m the one who’s running out of food.

Of all times, she had sold most of her stored harvest the day before the zombies appeared.

She had not secured enough food.

The few potatoes left in the corner of her inventory were already long gone. Now, what remained was…

She sighed and took out a silver package from the back of the kitchen cabinet. She poured its contents into a bowl. The words “Emergency Rations” were written boldly on the package.

It was a beginner item she had received at the start. She had never needed to eat it before and left it forgotten in the cabinet.

Who would have imagined she would end up eating it like this, little by little?

“I want to eat Mrs. Dorothy’s meatballs.”

Dorothy, known as the best cook in Sweet Little Village, often gave Nana food because she appreciated her for doing her daily quests.

“I want to eat Grandma Marcella’s stew, too.”

Nana forced herself to swallow the dry emergency food, her face twisted in discomfort.

She knew she was complaining selfishly.

In a zombie apocalypse, having any food at all and staying inside a relatively safe house was already great luck—even if the only food left was tasteless emergency rations.

But still—

“They said it was an error! They said it would go back to normal! Then why hasn’t anything changed?!”

Isn’t this just giving me false hope?!

Nana angrily touched the system window. The only message that appeared was:

Her rising anger, caused by endless waiting and bad food, faded slightly. At least shouting made her feel a little less depressed.

“When is this damn error going to be fixed?! Is it even really an error?”

Even before she possessed the game, it was famous for terrible management. She knew that and still started playing. But now that she was inside the game, the incompetence of the developers made her furious.

“I’m seriously going to starve to death! The land turned black, plants won’t grow, zombies are outside so I can’t leave, and now I’m out of food! At this rate, I’ll have to eat these chickens!”

She had built barricades at the door to keep zombies out and stayed inside with the two chickens she had carefully raised. Without them, she might have gone mad from loneliness.

Letting out her frustration made her feel wronged.

She thought she had escaped her hard reality and possessed the main character who would walk only on a happy path. She believed she would enjoy the game world and live well with her chosen romanceable character.

It wasn’t even a serious dating simulation game. She had possessed a fallen noble lady.

Every day she farmed and cleared daily quests. But for Nana, who had dreamed of rural life, even that was enjoyable.

“You trash game that can’t even fix one error properly! What about my farm?! What about my healing life?! If you’re going to do this, just send me back to my original world!”

She hadn’t worked so hard inside this game just to starve to death. If she had to possess something, why this game? They could have at least made her possess a fish in an aquarium game! At least fish don’t turn into zombies and can swim freely!

Thinking that starving to death might be her only future made tears sting her eyes.

Then suddenly, a loud fanfare exploded in front of her, and something popped up.

<Congratulations. You have awakened as: Farm Owner.>

“Awakened? Farm owner? What are you talking about?”

You can’t fix the error, but you add this?!

Her face twisted in disbelief. The tears disappeared instantly. When she touched the message, the text changed.

<Player Adrienne Rositon of Sweet Little Village has awakened as a Farm Owner. Land owned by the Farm Owner will be declared farmland. Declared farmland will have all contamination purified. Plants within farmland will grow twice as fast as before. Humans cannot enter farmland without the Farm Owner’s permission.>

<Passive Skill: ‘Blessed Hands’ has been activated. The Farm Owner can act outside. Plants touched by ‘Blessed Hands’ will grow 10% faster than their original growth speed.>

<Inventory function expanded.
Previously accessible only through the house storage, the inventory is now automatically linked to all pockets within Adrienne Rositon’s reach.
You may use the inventory freely anytime, anywhere.>

“Wait, wait. Awakened? Farm owner? This game already starts with running a farm! What do you mean job change? What do you mean class?”

She stared blankly at the sudden flood of information.

For someone used to playing games, these features were familiar. But inside this game, they were completely new.

Of course they were.

Even though the game had high freedom, it focused mainly on healing and romance. Combat power and item strength were never important.

“Maybe I’m really about to die. I’m even seeing hallucinations now.”

Ding!

…It understands what I’m saying?

<Would you like to declare your current residence as farmland?>

“…So I really changed jobs? But why Farm Owner of all things?”

If she had to change classes, a combat job suitable for a zombie world would have been better. Out of all the possible jobs, why one unrelated to fighting?

Her head throbbed. Just as she tried to ignore the pop-up, another message blocked her view.

<Declared farmland will purify all existing contamination. Plants within farmland will grow twice as fast as before. Humans cannot enter without the Farm Owner’s permission.>

<Would you like to declare your current residence as farmland?>

…It sounds like a desperate salesperson. Fix the error instead.

Without thinking much, Nana pressed the accept button. She had nothing to lose anyway.

But the moment she accepted, the air around her changed.